Jack - 3 years

• Jack is one of the sweetest little boys I have ever seen. A couple weeks ago I heard him say to a little girl at the McDonald's play area, "Do you want to be my friend?" He genuinely is concerned about other people's feelings and tries hard to make everyone feel happy.
• Jack is also one of the most stubborn little boys I have ever seen. We had to start setting the timer for his time outs because if we didn't, he would spend the entire day in time out before he would agree to talk about the issue. He also always wants to argue his side and always wants the last word. This does not go over well with either of his parents.
• Jack is very well-rounded. He loves to play sports of any kind. He is very athletic and can already throw and catch a football well, hit a baseball, and play badminton. He will run around for as long as we let him. We have yet to figure out how long he would run for if we didn't tell him it was time to go inside - we have yet to have that much time. He loves animals of all kinds, but especially ocean creatures. We recently took him to the Shedd Aquarium and he was amazed. He loves to read books and will bring me sometimes as many as a dozen books in a row and want me to read them to him. I have overheard him "reading" books to himself before and it is so cute. He is very musical. He sings, dances, and plays toy instruments. He already knows the names of songs and the artists that sing them on the radio. He tells us his "girlfriend" is Taylor Swift and he would like to invite her over for dinner. When I asked him what we should serve her for dinner he replied, "Hot dogs, mashed potatoes, and green peas." At least it is a well balanced meal...
• Jack has been potty training for 5 months now. This is where his stubborn side shows up again. He will go 2 or 3 weeks with no accidents and then have a week of nothing but accidents. His mother is at the end of her rope with the situation, which is probably why he keeps doing it.
• When Jack says, "Will you play with me, Mama?" he sounds so cute that I can never say no. I will stop whatever I am doing and play for at least a minute or two. I think he has figured this out, but I don't really care.
• Jack loves to know the details of our schedule. He always wants to know what we are doing all day and who will be there. He will keep asking about what we are doing until he has covered our entire week. He completely gets this trait from his mother, who has to have a planner even while on maternity leave.